NCAA Game Summary - Alabama at South Carolina

Columbia, SC (SportsNetwork.com) - Sindarius Thornwell shot 6-of-11 from the field and 9-of-10 at the foul line for 22 points, as the South Carolina Gamecocks edged the Alabama Crimson Tide, 67-66, in an SEC showdown at Colonial Life Arena.

Brenton Williams added 10 points for South Carolina (10-15, 3-9 SEC), which has won back-to-back games.

For Alabama (10-15, 4-8), losers of five of its last six, Trevor Releford paced all scorers with 27 points on 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Shannon Hale and Rodney Cooper both netted 11 points for the visitors.

South Carolina took a comfortable 28-19 lead at halftime by shooting 44 percent from the field in the opening stanza while holding Alabama to a mere 25 percent shooting.

The Gamecocks' lead swelled to as many as 12 in the second half, but the Tide battled back and held a four-point lead with under four minutes to play following a Releford 3-pointer. After the teams traded a few leads down the stretch, South Carolina snapped a 63-63 tie with 14 seconds left on a Mindaugas Kacinas bucket and held on from there.

South Carolina doubled up Alabama on points in the paint, 32-16.